The Malone University baseball team went 1-1 on Friday afternoon in Tucson, defeating Southwest Minnesota State University 10-0 before being defeated by Northern State University (SD) 13-8 in the second game of the day.
 
Game One Recap:
After three scoreless innings, Malone plated three runs in the top of the fourth on back-to-back RBI singles from Brenden Wells and Ryan Froman. The Pioneers would  break the game open, plating three more runs in the next inning as Keanan Locke delivered a two-run bomb and Jon Crank followed with his third homerun of the spring.
 
Already up 6-0 in the top of the seventh, Malone added four insurance runs. An RBI single from Matt Davis made it 7-0 and a bases loaded double from Froman gave the Pioneers their third double digit run total in as many games.
 
In all, ten different Pioneers scored a run in the game as Malone tallied 14 hits in the seven-inning contest. Leading the hit barrage was catcher Matt Davis with three singles. Locke extended to his hitting streak to nine games to start the 2016 season with two more base knocks Crank finished with two hits, as did Ryan Froman who drove in a career-high five baserunners.
 
As good as the offense was, the story of the game may have been starting pitcher Braun Miller. The 6'4" lefty freshman was dominant on the hill, allowing just three baserunners while striking out seven Mustangs in six and a third innings en route to his first collegiate victory.
 
Game Two Recap:
Northern State came into Friday night's encounter with the Pioneers averaging nearly 16 runs a game and stuck to their mo by employing a robust lineup that cranked out 13 runs and 19 hits.
 
The Wolves scored two early runs in the top of the first and added two more in the second. Malone, meanwhile, plated two runs in the bottom of the first on a Matt Davis homerun and added four more in the bottom of the second to take a 6-4 advantage.
 
The Wolves, however, would score a run in the fourth and four more in the fifth to recapture the lead, going up 9-6. By the time the Wolves took their at bats in the eighth, they were leading 13-6.

Malone pushed across two runs in the bottom half of the inning but fell by the final score of 13-8.

Richie Mast led Malone with three hits as Jon Crank, Derek Carmichael, and Ryan Froman chipped in with two hits each. Matt Davis totaled three RBI.

Noteworthy:
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Keanan Locke legged out an infield single to extend his hitting streak to 10 games in 2016. Locke played in just 10 games a season ago before going down with injury, but he had a hit in all 10 of those games as well. In 2014 he singled in his last game of the season, making his overall hitting streak stand currently at 21 games.
 
Up Next:
Malone (4-6) will wrap up its Arizona trip with another nine-inning showdown against Northern State on Saturday at 11:00 am EST (9:00 am MST).